


To Be The Bad Guy

by KimPhang



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Deceits the bad guy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Physical hurt, Torture, Virgil's misunderstood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-03-08 01:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18885415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimPhang/pseuds/KimPhang
Summary: Years and years ago, the Lightsides were adventuring when they came upon a powerful mage. He looked pretty evil and he seemed to be protecting something so they fought him.... and they lost. And lost again. And yet again. They fought and lost for years till they were obsessed with beating him and it was all they could think about; The reason they were fighting long forgotten. But one day, they won. And it was the worst mistake they ever could have made.





	1. Victory?

“Please! You have to listen to me! I’m trying to protect you!” 

Roman scoffed. “Why would we listen to you. All you’ve ever done is fight us and now, we’ve finally won. Whatever you’re hiding, I promise you we will find it.” Patton and Logan nodded in agreement from behind Roman. 

“You don’t understand! He’ll kill you!” 

The mage was starting to sound desperate, which gave Roman pause, but he had come too far to give up now. 

“What are you talking about; Nothing can kill me!” He said with more confidence than he felt.

“You’re wrong! You’re all in dan-” 

BOOM!

The ground shook with a sudden violence that sent the three light sides tumbling to the ground, and caused Roman’s sword, which was previously pointed at the mage’s throat, to fall uselessly to the ground. 

Roman looked at the mage who was still kneeling in front of him, seemingly unaffected by the sudden crash. He looked terrified a moment ago, but now nearly all emotion had left his face and his features only showed an edge of hopelessness. 

BOOM!

“It’s too late.” He said in a flat voice. Then he looked up and after a deep breath his expression changed to one of determination and concentration. 

“You might never know what I’ve done for you. In fact, I hope you never will.” He locked eyes with Roman, then Patton, and lastly Logan. 

“Eeeeeck!” Roman couldn’t help the girly shriek that escaped his mouth as he felt himself being lifted off the ground by some invisible force. Judging by the similar sounds Patton and Logan made behind him, the same thing was happening to them. 

“You’ll never see me again. Don’t ever come back here. I can promise that if you do, you will die.”

BOOM!

His face softened slightly and his lips turned up into a half smile. “It’s been fun. I would’ve liked to continue our little battles, but it’s too late for that now.” 

BOOM!

“Have a good life I guess.” He said with a small sad smile.

The light sides were now floating about a foot off the ground, surrounded by more purple magic than they’ve ever seen in all their years fighting the wielder of it.

Roman couldn’t talk, but he didn’t know if it was the magic keeping him silent, or if he was in too much shock to speak. All he could do was watch as his uncharacteristically weak enemy struggled to stand to face whatever was coming which Roman decided in that moment he did not want to see.

BOOM!

Whatever was coming was getting closer but the spell was almost complete. The lightsides started fading, becoming more and more transparent every second. 

The purple haired mage took one last look behind and gave a two finger salute as the mysterious monster came into view. Roman got one look at the monster before his vision faded to black.

The last thing he saw was a terrifyingly angry snake like monster shoot a bolt of yellow magic at the lightsides. The last thing he heard was a scream of pain. Then he knew no more.


	2. Who's Really The Bad Guy Here?

‘Dark. So dark. Dark but warm? Where am I?’ 

Roman slowly opened his eyes but quickly shut them again as all the memories hit him all at once. ‘Ugggggg.. My head…’ He slowly opened his eyes again and with effort, he sat up and looked around. 

The first thing he noticed was the fact that he was in his own bed and in his own pajamas.

‘Was it all just a dream then?’ He slowly got out of bed, being careful as to not make his headache worse, and made his careful way into his bathroom. He walked in, turned on the light, and looked in the mirror. 

He stared at his reflection. He blinked. He tilted his head to one side. Then the other. He looked closer. He shook his head and splashed water in his face in an attempt to drive the sleep from his eyes. He slowly looked back up at himself to find that, yes. His eyes had in fact turned from his normal auburn color to a dark shade of purple. 

Roman closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘So it was real. He saved me. Saved….us’ A stronger feeling of concern overpowered whatever feeling he was trying not to feel toward his nemesis.

‘WHERE ARE PATTON AND LOGAN!?’ 

Romans eyes shot opened and he stole one more glance back at his reflection then sprinted out of his room ignoring how it made his head spin. 

He stopped short and nearly fell over in the process. His head wasn’t spinning. He’d felt his head spin before; This was something else entirely. It was like his head was simultaneously telling him to slow down because he might get hurt and to hurry up and check on his friends because they might be hurt or worse. It was conflicting and making his headache worse. He shook his head and walked quickly toward Patton’s room because it was closest.

When he got there, he found the door unlocked and slightly open. His head was telling him to be careful so he slowly walked into the room and turned on the light. Empty. Patton wasn’t there. 

This made the voice inside his head fall into a full blown panic which was making Roman start to panic. Than the voice, as if it were just now aware that it was making Roman panic, stopped. He could have sworn he heard a quiet ‘sorry’ as he shook his head again and ran to Logan’s room. This time, the voice had no objections to him running. 

When he got there, he found the door closed tight. The voice remained very silent as Roman lifted up his fist and knocked twice on the door. 

There was a moment of silence as he and the voice held their breath. “Roman?” Came the hesitant reply from the other side of the door. Roman breathed a sigh of relief before answering. “Yeah it's me. Is Pat with you?” 

The door swung open and Patton pulled him inside and into a tight hug. “You’re finally awake!” Patton squealed in delight and relief. 

“Patton, he was only unconscious for 2 hours and 27 minutes longer than we were.” Logan the ever bringer of logic stated from where he was sitting on the bed looking rather relieved despite his words. 

“Wait, why did you guys wake up before me?” The prince asked looking at Logan over Pat’s shoulder. 

“My theory is that since you were closer so the spell, it was stronger on you and knocked you out for longer.”

“Oh, that makes sense I guess.” 

“So your eyes are purple too huh?” Patton asked after they stopped hugging and made their way over to Logan’s bed. 

“Yeah. I wonder what it means.” 

“That’s interesting… Your eyes seem to be a darker shade of purple than ours.” Logan wondered out loud mostly to himself as the other two joined him on the bed sitting one on either side of him.

Now that he knew Patton and Logan were safe Roman finally let his thoughts wonder and allowed himself to think on what happened.

Patton watched Roman who was staring silently at the ground. “You okay kiddo?”

Roman startled a little and looked up. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. Spaced out a bit.” 

Logan put a hand on his arm. “That’s quite alright Roman. This is a lot to process.” 

“Yeah. Yeah it is.” He said after flopping down onto his back looking at the stars on the ceiling. “He saved us.”

“Yeah he did kiddo.” Patton said sadly. “I wonder what happened after he sent us back here. A spell like that would have taken a lot of energy and he was already tired from fighting us.” Patton started tearing up a bit. 

“With his energy drained as it was, he may not have survived.” Logan said without taking his eyes off the floor. 

Everyone was silent for a long moment. “Is there any possibility he might still be alive?” Roman asked suddenly sitting up to face the other two.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Logan said, finally taking his eyes off the floor to narrow his eyes at Roman. “but he said we can’t go back for him or we will die. What was the point in saving us if we’re just going to throw ourselves back into danger the moment we’re safe!” 

“But Logan! What if-” 

“No Roman.” There was a pause during which Roman laid back onto the bed again, his hopeful expression gone and his face blank. 

“I’ve been thinking and I think I’ve come up with a theory about him.” Logan said looking down at his hands. He paused again to gather his thoughts before continuing. 

“I don’t think he was ever really fighting us.” 

“What do you mean?” Patton asked after a hesitant moment. Logan looked up to face Patton. “I think he liked battling with us but he never actually intended to hurt us in any way.” 

Logan looked at Patton’s surprised face for a moment then laid down beside Roman who seemed to take this new piece of information rather well if his unchanged blank face was anything to go by. 

“Do you remember him ever aiming at our heads or any other place that could be fatal if hit?” Patton looked thoughtful but Logan continued. “Have you ever received any injury caused by him that wasn’t merely a minor scratch? I remember him even backing off at times because one of us were close to getting hurt. He even saved your life once.” Logan turned his head to look at Patton who looked to be near tears. “That time when the cliff was breaking under your feet.”

Patton laid down beside Logan with tears in his eyes. “But if he never meant to hurt us...“ He paused, then let out a choked sob. “He was never the bad guy! I could have been his friend! I should have seen it!”

While Patton continued to cry softly into his hands and Logan just stared at the ceiling. 

Roman took this time to sort out his thoughts … but when he started listening to his thoughts instead of his companions, he started to hear the voice again.

‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make him cry. Please don’t cry. It’s not your fault. I’m sorry…’ 

“Hey guys? Have either of you heard a weird voice in your head since you woke up?”


	3. Conversing with the Enemy

Logan sat up and gave Roman a skeptical look. 

“We have not. Are you alright Roman?”

“Uhh, yeahh I think so. I just… I think our mage friend put something in my head.” He said sitting up.

Patton sat up too and gave Roman a look only of concern. “What has the voice been saying?” 

“Well, It told me to be careful when I was looking for you guys and when I found Patton’s room empty it kinda freaked out and just now it was saying sorry for making Patton cry…” 

Patton looked at Roman very confused. “Umm, It’s okay voice inside Roman’s head; It’s not your fault.” 

‘It is my fault, but I appreciate the thought.’ Mumbled the voice. 

“It is my fault, but I appreciate the thought.” Roman copied.

“Roman? What?” Logan was very confused at this point.

“That’s what the voice just said. I think it can hear us.” 

“Um.. Okay.. Who are you kiddo voice inside Roman’s head?” Patton asked.

‘That’s a complicated question. It’s too early for complicated questions, but I’ll try I guess.’

‘I’m the mage, but not really. I’m the mage’s magic I suppose. There was a bolt of magic going to hit you, Roman, so I transferred most of my magic to you in order to protect you but it’s not an easy thing to do so I probably passed out after and my magic wasn’t able to return to me because of that, and so it stuck to you.’

Roman repeated everything the voice said so that the others could be part of whatever weird conversation they were having. 

“So the mage doesn't have his magic right now because I have it?”

‘You don’t have all of it, but most. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to end up in your head. I don’t even think the real me knows that I can talk to you. I also don’t know how it’s possible for me to be talking to you since the real me is stuck in a cage somewhere probably behind a magic barrier but there’s a lot even I don’t know about magic.’

The voice mumbled the last part but Roman repeated it anyway.

Patton gasped. “With your help now, we can save you!” 

‘NO!’ 

Roman flinched. “ow..” Roman groaned rubbing his temples.

‘sorry’ 

“What just happened?” “Are you okay?” The two others spoke at the same time and looked at Roman with concern.

“Yeah I’m...fine. The voice just said ‘no’ really loud and it kinda hurt my head a bit.” 

‘I’m sorry, but you can’t go back for me. Logan’s right. If you go back now you will be captured or killed and what I went through to save you will have been for nothing!’

“But..” Patton looked like he would start crying again. “You might die!” 

‘Yes. I know. But you will live. Part of me will still exist inside Roman’s head for awhile, but even that will fade eventually, I think, and you can go back to your normal lives.’

Roman was having a hard time repeating the voice near the end, as he was getting pretty choked up. 

“Fighting you was our normal..” Logan said looking down.

The voice scoffed. ‘I suppose you’ll just have to find a new normal then.’ 

That was all Roman could take. He broke down crying along with Patton as the voice went silent and Logan glared at a piece of the floor as if it were to blame for all of this.


	4. A New Normal

The three lightsides all slept in Logan’s room that night as none of them wanted to be alone. Logan and Roman both decided that Patton would sleep on Logan’s bed that night and they wouldn’t take no for an answer so Logan got out two extra cots for himself and the Prince and set them on either side of the bed. The voice still hadn’t said a word after what happened about an hour ago and was quiet still when they all fell asleep.

In the morning, Roman awoke first though he didn’t awake in any pleasant manner. He was sleeping soundly in the middle of a beautiful dream of saving princesses and fighting dragons when all of a sudden he was awake and on the floor with his head throbbing. 

He laid flat on the floor and closed his eyes groaning quietly as to not wake the others. When he opened his eyes he was surprised to find his hands shaking and tears on his face as though he had just had a nightmare even though he could clearly remember having a really good dream before waking up.

He thought that maybe it might have been because of a certain someone currently residing in his head but when he listened for the mage’s voice, he didn’t hear anything so he got up and tiptoed past Logan and Patton to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and found that his eyes were not blotchy or red like they might have been if he had been crying for very long. He washed his face and looked up at himself, staring into his deep purple eyes.

“Are you okay?”

There was quiet for a moment than he heard was definitely sounded like a sniff.

‘I’m going to assume you're talking to m-me and not showing one of the first signs of insanity by talking to your s-self.’

Roman didn’t miss the slight stutters or the way the mage sounded choked up despite his best attempts to hide it, but he chose not to comment. Instead, he tried for a more careful way.

“Me? Insane? Just because I have a voice in my head does not mean that I am crazy thank you very much.” Roman said in his most dramatic like voice.

His dramatics seemed to calm the mage down at least a little because his hands stopped shaking and he heard a scoff that definitely wasn’t his. 

‘Are you always this dramatic in the morning?’

“Only when in good company. This would not be the same story if Logan woke me up believe me. That man does not know how to wake someone up.”

The voice was silent a moment.

‘S-sorry about that.. I didn’t mean to wake you up… I guess my nightmares came with my personality..’

“It’s alright. It’s a little early, but it’s late enough for me to be awake.”

‘O-okay. I’m still sorry…”

“Hey, I have an idea! Let us go to the kitchen to create the greatest breakfast Patton and Logan have ever and will ever taste! I think it is well deserved after the day we all had yesterday.”

‘You know I don’t really have a choice here right?’

“Yeah, but you do have the choice of helping me! I’m not the best cook I’ll admit, but with your help we might just be able to pull something together!”

‘I suppose I could give you a few pointers.. What are you planning on making?’

“I’m not sure yet but we can figure it out together!”

The voice, apparently resigned to his fate, started talking about things they could make on their way to the kitchen, only paused to tell Roman to take the stairs one at a time or else the ground will surely meet his face before his feet.

Meanwhile upstairs…..

The room remained quiet for a long moment after Roman left. 

Both Patton and Logan were awake and had been for awhile now. After Logan was sure that Roman was gone, he sat up and joined Patton sitting on the bed. 

They were both quiet for a long moment; Neither knowing how to start this conversation until Patton slumped in defeat and let out a long breath.

“What are we going to do Logan?”

“I don’t know Patton. There has to be a way to fix this! It’s our fault that he’s even in this mess and he’s acting like he doesn’t even care that there’s a good chance he’ll die because of it! I can’t live with that.”

“I know. I can’t either. But what can we do?”

“We can try. By ourselves I doubt we’d get far, but maybe with the Mage’s magic in Roman we have a chance.”

“But he said not to go. How do we know that he’s gonna help us?”

Patton and Logan sat in a thoughtful silence before Logan hesitantly broke it.

“We don’t… tell him?”

Patton gave him a stern look. 

“You know how I feel about lying.”

“I know. But if it’s the only way to save him.. “

Patton stared down at his hands looking conflicted.

“If it’s the only way.. “

He looked up at Logan with determination in his eyes. 

“Then we have some packing to do.”

**Author's Note:**

> These are Thomas Sander's characters. I only claim the story as my own. Also I love criticism. Judge my work to your hearts content or don't. You do you :)


End file.
